The Monstrous Child

By: Francesca Simon

Narrated by: Eleanor Tomlinson

Meet Hel, an ordinary teenager - and goddess of the Underworld. Why is life so unfair?

Hel tries to make the best of it, creating gleaming halls in her dark kingdom and welcoming the dead who she is forced to host for eternity. Until eternity itself is threatened.

©2016 Francesca Simon (P)2016 Bolinda

Interesting Take

Great narration by Eleanor Tomlinson. She captures the broodiness and innocence of Hel so well.

I love the twist on the mythology from Hel’s eyes. Seeing things through the eyes of a young woman who is often seen as a villain for simply doing the job thrusted upon her (goddess of death). It was very well done without seeming to be a villain arc story that tries to redeem the way they act in the much loved stories we know. Instead it was what we know from mythology but from her perspective and showed the same story from a different set of eyes and it made for a nice quick listen.

While there isn’t a whole lot of action, it is simple and still enjoyable and kept my interest.